Looking for a foolproof way to make a classic cookie but without the eggs? These chewy Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies are quick, easy, and outrageously delicious!
Plus, they require no chilling time, are foolproof, and contain all easy-to-find ingredients. These beyond-delicious chocolate chip cookies will be your new go-to when that chocolate craving hits.
Not only are eggs expensive, but industrial egg production is also associated with high levels of greenhouse gas emissions. The most responsible way to source eggs as a consumer is to look for pasture-raised eggs, which are even more expensive!
I absolutely love eggs, and as a pescatarian, I rely on eggs a lot for extra protein. However, as an environmental scientist, I try to save the eggs for when they really count.
Between the high impact of eggs on both the planet and my wallet, I was bound and determined to develop a perfect chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe without eggs.
After testing with many different egg substitutes (I tried apple sauce, bananas, flaxseed, and extra oil before landing on cornstarch as my favorite solution), I am confident I’ve landed on a recipe that is easy, accessible, affordable, and absolutely delicious!
Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients
Here’s everything you need:
- Cornstarch and water. You will make a slurry to replace the eggs.
- Unsalted butter. Make sure it is softened! Plant-based butter works here to make these cookies vegan.
- Light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar works in a pinch, but light brown sugar is best!
- Vanilla extract. For flavor.
- All-purpose flour. The base of your eggless cookies.
- Salt. To elevate the other flavors.
- Baking soda. For a little lift.
- Chocolate chips. Either dark chocolate or semi-sweet.
Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Eggs Tips and Tricks
Common Substitutes for Eggs
In eggless baking, there are a variety of different egg substitutes we can use, depending on what we need the eggs for. Here are some common egg substitutes:
- Flaxseed or Chia Seeds. When soaked in water, the seeds thicken and bind, holding together cakes, loaves, muffins, etc.
- Banana. Bananas also work well as a binder, but they do add a hint of fruity banana flavor.
- Applesauce. This is commonly used in place of eggs as it adds a lot of moisture.
- Just Egg. Not only is this commercial egg substitute delicious on its own, but it also helps to both bind and leaven, just like regular eggs.
- Cornstarch. This works great in baked goods (hint, hint: like cookies!) to tightly bind and avoid spreading.
What does cornstarch do to cookies?
Cornstarch does a really great job of absorbing extra moisture to thicken any liquid or mixture. I use it often when making crispy tofu or vegetables, or as a thickening agent in sauce.
Once cornstarch reaches a temperature of 295°F, its thickening properties are kicked into overdrive. This means, that during the baking process, once your cookies reach a temperature of 295°F they will retain their current size and shape.
In these eggless chocolate chip cookies, the cornstarch stops the cookies from spreading too much, binding them together and giving them a luxurious chewy texture with a soft middle and slightly crispy edges.
To best integrate the cornstarch into the cookie dough, we will add it to water and set it aside, giving it some time to absorb. Throughout this recipe, I will refer to this cornstarch and water mixture as the cornstarch slurry.
Why It Is Important to Cream the Butter and Sugar Together
The best way to set yourself up for success with these eggless cookies is to make sure you start with softened butter.
The simplest way to make sure your butter is softened is to just take it out of the refrigerator a couple of hours before baking and allow it to come to room temperature naturally.
Green tip: Look for organic and palm oil-free butter if you can. Buying organic means you are supporting farms that do not use damaging pesticides and fertilizers, and palm oil production is a huge driver behind deforestation.
If you don’t have time to wait for your cold butter to reach room temperature, there are some easy ways to soften butter quickly.
The first way is to simply place your stick of butter directly on top of your oven while the oven is preheating. Flip it over after a couple of minutes to allow both sides to get warm.
An even quicker way is to put the half stick of butter needed for this recipe in the microwave for 10 seconds. From there, you can heat it in 5-second intervals until it’s softened.
Remember we want softened, not melted! So how do you know your butter is ready? Well, you just poke it! If your finger leaves an imprint, your butter is nice and soft.
Once your butter is softened, the first step is to mix it with the light brown sugar with the hand mixer on high for 2-3 minutes to cream it. Creaming the butter and sugar actually aerates it, setting you up for a soft cookie.
Beat the Wet Ingredients Until Smooth
Once your butter and sugar is creamed together, it’s time to add your cornstarch slurry and vanilla extract.
Note that some of the cornstarch will sink to the bottom of your slurry. You may need to use a spatula to scrape it out to ensure all of it is added to your eggless cookie dough!
When you first add the cornstarch slurry and start to mix it, the dough will look split or broken. This is to be expected. The water content will take a little while to integrate into the fat from the butter.
Continue to use you hand mixer on high, beating for 3-5 minutes until the water is integrated. There are pictures for your reference below.
Add the Dry Ingredients
Once you’ve integrated your wet ingredients, it’s time to finish off your dough with the dry ingredients! Add your flour, salt, and baking soda.
Once again, use the hand mixer to beat the dough until smooth. Make sure to use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, integrating any loose ingredients that may be stuck.
Continue to mix and scrape until everything is smooth with no lumps.
Fold In Your Chocolate Chips Last
Make sure your cookie dough is completely smooth before adding the chocolate chips. I always add at least 1 cup of chocolate chips, but this dough can handle up to 1 1/2 cups. Measure with your heart. 😉
I typically use dark chocolate chips in this and all of my chocolate chip cookie recipes, but you can also use semi-sweet if that is your preference. And if you don’t have chocolate chips? Chop up a chocolate bar!
Green tip: To ensure your chocolate is sustainably sourced, look for Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, or UTZ certifications as opposed to self-proclaimed sustainability labels that sometimes falsely advertise “sustainably sourced”.
Form Your No-Egg Chocolate Chip Cookies
Now that you have your chocolate chip cookie dough with no eggs ready to go, all that’s left is shaping those cookies. It is a sticky, wet dough. I find the easiest way to get uniform cookies is by using a large cookie scoop.
If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you can absolutely hand-shape your cookies. Just try your best to get them roughly equal in size so that they bake evenly.
Each cookie should be made up of a heaping tablespoon of dough, leaving you with 8-10 cookies total.
Pro tip: If hand-shaping your cookies, wet your hands to avoid dough sticking to them. Continue to wet your hands as needed while forming your cookies. This will allow you to roll and shape them without the mess.
Place your cookies on a lined baking sheet (consider these reusable baking mats for a more sustainable option), leaving ample space between each cookie.
These cookies will not spread much but giving them room allows for their edges to get a little crispy and makes for the best texture.
How to Perfectly Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies without Eggs
These cookies are pretty foolproof, and will hold their shape, even if they are slightly underbaked.
Aside from lining your baking sheet, making the cookies roughly the same size, and giving ample room between each cookies, there is one more important tactic to getting the best texture on these cookies: bake them on the top rack!
Heat rises, so the top rack is often significantly hotter than the bottom. If you place one cookie sheet on the top rack and one on the bottom, there will be a noticeable difference in baking time.
If both sheets don’t fit on the top rack at once, I recommend baking the cookies in two rounds.
These cookies will bake beautifully in 12-14 minutes on the top rack. When they are ready, the top and edges will be a little bit crispy to touch. It’s okay if the center is slightly underdone.
How to Properly Store Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies
At room temperature, these chocolatey cookies without eggs will last for 5-7 days when they are covered. In the refrigerator in an airtight container, they can last up to three weeks.
These cookies do tend to get pretty firm within the first couple days of storing them. If you want to keep them softer and chewier, store them in a container with a piece of bread (this is the perfect use for an end piece!).
Believe it or not, moisture from the bread keeps the cookies from drying out.
You can also freeze them once they’re baked for up to a year and allow them to thaw before enjoying.
Green tip: Of the billions of tons of food wasted annually, 50% of food waste happens at home. Reduce your contribution to food waste by properly storing baked goods!
Freezing Eggless Cookie Dough for Later
You can freeze the dough for your cookies without eggs for up to a year. This way, you can have freshly baked cookies whenever you want!
It’s best to transfer the dough to the refrigerator at least 12 hours before you want to bake them! Otherwise, add an extra minute or two to your baking time if you are baking them right out of the freezer.
Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies Frequently Asked Questions
Can I eat eggless cookie dough raw?
Though the dough for these chocolate chip cookies does not contain eggs, it’s still risky to eat the dough raw. Just like eggs, untreated flour can contain dangerous bacteria like E.coli.
If you want delicious dough to eat, check out these No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites.
What happens when you don’t put eggs in cookies?
Eggs not only work to bind and leaven cookies, but they also add a lot of moisture to the dough. Completely leaving out the eggs will make for a dense, dry, and crumbly cookie.
However, replacing the egg with just any old liquid like milk or water, will cause the cookies to spread too much and become super flat with no shape.
It’s important to use a tested egg replacement in cookies. After trying several, I found that a cornstarch slurry makes for the best chocolate chip cookies without eggs.
Why You Should Make These Chewy Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies
- They’re easy. No ultra-fancy gadgets or specialty ingredients required! All you really need is a hand mixer.
- They’re quick. No chilling time is required to make these cookies, meaning they come together in less than 30 minutes.
- The texture! Super chewy with delicious globs of melty chocolate, a soft center, and slightly crispy edges.
If you’re loving these Chewy Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies and want more chocolate chip recipes, check out this Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake and Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding.
Chewy Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies
Print Save RateEquipment
- Large Cookie Scoop (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons water
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (4 tablespoons butter= ½ stick)
- ½ cup light brown sugar (tightly packed)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup chocolate chips (dark or semi-sweet)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a reusable baking mat.
- In a small bowl, add the cornstarch and water and use a fork to combine to form a slurry and set it aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add your softened butter and brown sugar. Use a hand mixer on high to cream the butter and sugar together until well-combined (about 2-3 minutes).
- Add the cornstarch slurry and vanilla extract and use the hand mixer on high again to combine. Please note when you first add the wet ingredients to the butter and sugar, the dough will look "broken" or "split". That's expected! Continue to combine for 3-5 minutes until all of the liquid is integrated.
- Add the flour, salt, baking soda, and beat again until smooth.
- Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, ensuring that all of the ingredients are integrated. Then, use the spatula to fold in the chocolate chips.
- Use a large cookie scoop or heaping tablespoon to shape cookies, leaving about an inch of space between each cookie.
- Bake on the top rack for 12-14 minutes until top and edges are firm.
Pro Tips
- The cornstarch in the slurry may sink to the bottom of your small bowl. Make sure to add all of it to your dough. You may need to use a spatula to scrape it out of the dish.
- Though there are no eggs in this cookie dough, the flour still poses a risk to eating the dough raw. If you are looking for a safe-to-eat chocolate chip cookie dough, check out these No-Bake Cookie Dough Bites.
- Cookie monsters are always happy at my house with this delicious selection of my best cookie recipes to choose from! Nom nom nom!
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